Ricky and Stephen

This blog is going to be my commentary and analysis on The Office UK, and possibly also Extras and anything else Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant do. I'm gonna start with this very biased observation: These guys are brilliant. They are geniuses. I kiss their feet in open admiration. OK, maybe that sounds a bit smarmy, but I really think The Office UK is the best sitcom ever and possibly the best TV show ever, in terms of quality and subtle yet very effective humor.

I was watching the 1st season DVD yesterday, with the long documentary "How I Made The Office by Ricky Gervais". There were several interesting facets about it, but I'll start with a brief account of observations on the show creators, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

In the beginning of the documentary, Merchant says: "The thing about Ricky is that he's... um.. the most irritating man I've ever met." No argument there; both Lucy Davis (Dawn), Martin Freeman(Tim), and Mackenzie Crook(Gareth) attest to it. Freeman imitates the voices he makes - "Aa! Aa!" and Crook carefully admits that "He has a .. capacity to be annoying." Davis says, "Why is he annoying? So many reasons." Even Gervais himself seems to agree with it. He says it's his art, because a lot of the scenes on the show come from that. He starts to do his "windscreen wipers on glasses" thing on Merchant, who says, "Don't do it now, seriously don't do it now, cos I'll go mental." He calms down. It really seems like it is as Merchant says: he will go on until he gets a reaction. And even in a short interview like this- yeah, he does seem irritating.

Don't get me wrong. I really like Ricky Gervais' humor. I've never seen him not be funny - podcasts, Animals, Politics, anything. He is funny. He is intelligent, because all of his humor is really smart stuff. He makes good observations. But I don't think I'd like to be his friend. He's the kind of guy who will poke you just for fun until you either laugh or get mad. He's the kind of guy who thinks annoying equals funny, and if you get mad ,that's part of the joke. I don't think I'd like to hang out with him for very long. Even the video reel of them writing episodes together shows him just goofing off.

Stephen Merchant seems completely different. He is calm, jokes verbally without weird sounds and overexcitable movements, and generally seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't annoy the hell out of you. He's the straight man, even if he's as funny and intelligent as Gervais. He doesn't put on a show. In some ways they are really similar, but there's a certian dignity about Merchant that there isn't about Gervais. Even their names in the credits - Stephen vs the more nickname-sounding, boyish Ricky. I think Stephen Merchant is the kind of guy who can also be calm and serious if he wants to.

Maybe it's this difference between them that makes them work so well together. Gervais is there to bring the excitement and creative madness, while Merchant balances it with a more calm approach. They seem to have the same basic sense of humor, but different ways of exhibiting it. It's a good balance.